Place in My Heart
by kaitoh-chan
Summary: Tohru Honda has a place in her heart for the person she loves most-Kyoko. But what about Kyo? With help from an anonymous shadow, Tohru discovers who. R&R!


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fruits Basket, Takaya-sensei does. Power-Rangers are mentioned in this fic, and I don't own them, either.

**Place in My Heart**

_That special place in my heart…always belonged to mom. My favorite person, my best friend, one I loved most. It was…always this way. And it wasn't about to change until…him. Yes, he was a favored person, yes he was a good friend, and yes—I love him. But is he my favorite person? Is he my best friend? Is he the one I love most…!_

_Two people can't take up that place in my heart. It's one or the other…and I can't be disloyal to mom, after all she did for me. I can't…replace her. No one can—not even him. No matter how much love he might give me, that place in my heart…is mom's._

Tohru Honda stumbled down the hallways of Kaibara High School. She unlocked her locker, and stuffed her books inside. Finally, tomorrow was a day off! She was plenty grateful, but extremely worried. Tohru wanted something to distract her for the moment. She didn't want to think about that place in her heart…. That place belonged to her mom. It did, it will.

Or will it?

What about Kyo? He…was as great as mom had been. He'd helped her through so many things; almost as many as mom had. He'd been there for her, and he is right now…. And mom was gone—

"Tohru!"

Tohru spun around. It was Kyo, to Tohru's plummeting disappointment and utter delight. He was walking jauntily up to her; she couldn't run away. He seemed in a pretty good mood, which was saying something. He looked like he was almost smiling. Tohru smiled back; she liked seeing him happy.

"Kyo-kun!" greeted Tohru. "H-Hello!" she hoped her voice didn't waver too much. She didn't want to sound worried, or else he would inquire, and she would have to explain and…well, that was utterly complicated. Tohru looked up at him when he stopped at her locker. Whether she liked it or not, he seemed to have noted something was wrong.

"Hey—is something wrong?" he asked predictably. "Did that damn fanclub start ragging on you again? Because—"

"No, no!" yelped Tohru, imagining what Kyo would do. "It's just…I've been really, um…it's just I haven't been myself lately."

"I'll say," agreed Kyo. "You look…worried."

"No—I!" cried Tohru, not wanting to pressure Kyo into finding out what was wrong. "I—I'm fine. It's just that…I have to go pick up, um, Hiro-kun and Kisa-chan!"

Kyo looked slightly skeptical, but didn't question, "All right, go do that. Make sure that damn kid doesn't give you a hard time, too. You don't have to take orders from a stupid elementary-school kid, you know."

Tohru walked quickly away, hoping Kyo was convinced. She wasn't going to pick up Hiro and Kisa though—they were going to be picked up by Hiro's mom. Tohru wondered what she would do. She had just foolishly talked herself into an hour of absence. Maybe she would just…sit in a room for an hour. She'd best find a deserted one.

She saw a dark room with one flickering florescent light on. It looked quite deserted, and she saw it was messily cleaned up. There were five large desks.

One desk was clean, with a decorated pink laptop sitting on it. The desk was covered with doodles of flowers, stars, and hearts in different gel-pen colors. There were ornamental flowers and almost everything was pink. There were a stack of teen magazines and a stylish coat stuffed into a drawer that wasn't property closed. Tohru noted the various pictures of boys littering the desk, however. There was a little paragraph under each piece of paper.

The desk next to that one was cleaner, with a silvery laptop sitting atop. This desk had a stack of well-organized papers and various sticky-notes covered with things to do. The drawers were all labeled neatly, and everything was in alphabetical order. Tohru noticed a small picture caught in the drawer. It was of a girl, but she couldn't tell who. But Tohru was much too polite to pry.

Desk the third was very messy. It had a jet-black laptop sitting on it, and Power-Ranger merchandise all over. There were stacks of paper, but they were mostly cut-outs from comics and outdated student council information. There was a piece of paper that read

_Kaibara High Navy_

_Amy of Student Defenders_

_Student Defense Corp.s_

Apparently, someone had been choosing some names for some sort of student-defense thing. There was a little electronic gizmo that was beeping wildly. Tohru ignored it.

The next desk was also quite messy, but someone had apparently tried to clean it up. But the cleaning seemed rushed and hasty. The books were stacked messily, the papers in four different stacks, and in no particular order. The drawers' labels were lopsided, and the laptop was still on. The mouse wasn't plugged in, and scraps of paper littered the desk.

Tohru sat in a swivel-chair in the last desk, which was extremely organized. It was clean, the papers were stacked neatly; there was a clipboard of events, and a single, bluish laptop sitting adjacent to a phone. The drawers were all properly labeled, and there was a pair of reading glasses sitting on the laptop.

"Ooh," Tohru sighed exasperatedly, "I just…can't fit both of you in my heart. That special place for my special person…I can't fit two…."

"What do you mean?" inquired a voice issuing from the shadows. "Places in your heart? What does that mean?"

Tohru normally would've asked who this voice was, and what he was doing, but she was too much in distress.

"Well—well…" stammered Tohru, sobbing uncontrollably. "It's just that my mom…she was the greatest person. S-She worked so hard for me, b-but then she died in a car crash. I placed her in that special place in my heart, the place where the most valuable person in my life goes…. The person I love most of all, over everything and everyone.

"And I thought…I promised her I would never love anyone more. B-But I think I do! And I can't…be disloyal to her."

"Look," he said. "Your mom loves you, right? Then, wouldn't she accept your choices? Even if it wasn't her being the most loved?"

"No—she's my most loved person! I couldn't betray her! I—I just couldn't…" Tohru contradicted.

_I love mom most of all. Because of all she did for me. I'll never be able to hear her voice again, or have her help. The least I could do for all she did for me is put her in that place…in my heart. She is my favorite person. I love her most of all. I can't…give that place to anyone. Because…because if I did, I would be betraying her. I feel…as if I must love her most. It's because she loved me most._

"I must love her most!" gasped Tohru. "She loved me most! She cared about me—she'd die for me! I know it!"

"Well, think about it this way," explained the voice. "I'm sure the person that you may love more loves you most of all. So wouldn't you…love him most of all? Since he loves you most of all?"

Tohru gasped.

_I'm not…even sure if Kyo loves me as much as I love him. I…don't know if he even loves me. But…what if he did? Would I return his feelings? What if he…loves me more than mom did? No, no one can! No one can!_

"There are different kinds of love," he said. "There's the kind your mother gives you. It's protective, helpful, encouraging, and motherly. But there's the type of love your potential boyfriend is giving you. It's romantic, assisting, calming, and you can really learn from it. And usually…the former is the stronger. Because a mother's love is just there for you until another's love comes along. That's just nature's way."

_Kyo's not…very romantic. But he lets me sit on the rooftop with him, and see the stars…. He let me into his world, the world of being a Cat. He's told me about his fears and worries, and he's defended me from dangers…. Should Kyo be the one I love most of all…? _

"S-Should he be the one I love most?" questioned Tohru.

"I don't know; should he?" the voice shot back. "Listen to me. Your mother's love was stronger than most, because she raised you herself—"

"How did you—!"

"Just listen! But look at it this way. She wanted you to make friends, and be yourself. Remember what she once said? 'Be yourself Tohru; take things at your own pace. Someday you'll catch up.' That's what she said. And right now, you're not being yourself. You're rushing ahead of your own pace."

"How do you know all—!"

"Let me speak. You don't have to decide this now, of all times. And just be you. Trying to make yourself love your mother more than him…is NOT being yourself. The right path to take is the one that you naturally flow with. You don't have to put values on people. You can't control how much you love someone."

Tohru looked at the shadow.

_That place in my heart…_

_is already taken._

_I love him. I love him. I love him more than anyone—even mom. I know this feeling. But I need time to sort it out. I need time to pace myself, to calm down and think about it. But I know this feeling. It's love; a love greater than mom's. I'm sorry mom. But that place in my heart is already taken…_

_by Kyo._

**Fin.**

**Epilogue**

Kakeru Manabe entered the student council room jauntily.

"Yun-yun!" called Kakeru. "What were you doing in here for an hour! Nao's on the rampage! It's fun!"

Yuki Sohma emerged from the shadows. His face was depressed, but his eyes were alight with happiness.

"Hey Yun-yun, what's wrong?"

"She's in distress…but…I'm glad I helped."


End file.
